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The Aga Khan, left, spiritual leader of the world's 15-million Ismaili Muslims, with Prime Minister Stephen Harper, addressed the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa last Thursday. Photo: Fred Chartrand/The Canadian Press

The Conservative party sent out a mass email on Tuesday to web surfers who handed over their email addresses so that they could watch online videos of the Muslim religious leader the Aga Khan make appearances with Prime Minister Stephen Harper last week.

The afternoon email blast was the latest step in what looks to be a carefully co-ordinated social media campaign aimed at winning political support for Harper’s appearance with the Aga Khan, who is revered by Canada’s 100,000 Ismaili Muslims.

An afternoon email blast, seen in a screen shot, was the latest step in what looks to be a carefully co-ordinated social media campaign aimed at winning political support for Prime Minister Harper’s appearance with the Aga Khan.

The campaign started two weeks ago, when Employment Minister Jason Kenney sent out an email inviting the Aga Khan’s followers to visit stephenharper.ca — a party-controlled website — to watch a livestream of speeches to Parliament on Thursday and an invitation-only event at Toronto’s Massey Hall on Friday.

Web surfers who followed the link were asked to fill out a form with their name, email address and postal code, information parties typically gather for fundraising and voter identification purposes.

On Tuesday afternoon, Citizenship Minister Chris Alexander sent an email to people who signed up to thank them for following “a truly meaningful and unforgettable occasion.”

Alexander directed recipients back to the site to watch a final video.

“I encourage you to watch it and be moved by the important words of two great world leaders,” the email said. “Please feel free to share this opportunity with your friends and family, as well.”

Opposition MPs have complained that the party is making unethical partisan use of the visit of a religious leader, since followers were asked to submit their personal information if they wanted to experience the event. MPs also complained that they could not get tickets for the Massey Hall event, which they said contradicted the Aga Khan’s message on the importance of pluralism.

Opposition MPs attacked the party’s data-collection practices as unethical during question period on Tuesday, but the Conservatives were making no apologies.

“Could the government tell us if it really thinks it is appropriate to use a state visit by a religious leader to gather personal information for the use of the Conservative war machine?” asked NDP MP Charlie Angus during question period on Tuesday.

Paul Calandra, parliamentary secretary to the prime minister, did not comment on data collection, but did praise the Aga Khan’s visit.

“Let me just say how proud and honoured I was to be in this chamber to hear the words of the Aga Khan last week, and to hear the affection and esteem in which he holds this country,” he said.